We learned early this summer that Universal is planning a Battleship board game movie, then a couple of months ago Peter Berg (Hancock) was tapped to direct, and a release date was set for July 1st, 2011 (apparently it’s been changed to August 5th, 2011). Berg has described the Battleship movie as, “an epic naval action adventure,” that is, “a contemporary story of an international five-ship fleet engaged in a very dynamic, violent and intense battle.”

That was enough to go on at the time, but what Berg DIDN’T mention was who the enemy was going to be…that is, until now. On Friday, Latino Review got a scoop that confirmed (their words, not ours) from a source that the foes the “hero” battleships were presumably going to be battling against are… wait for it… aliens! That’s right, extraterrestrials presumably attacking earth for our wonderful resources (what’s left of them, that is…).

Back in May we reported that Hancock helmer, Peter Berg, was in talks to direct the live-action adaptation of the popular Hasbro board game, Battleship. Fast-forward four months and Berg has been confirmed to direct the movie, and a release date has been set – July 1st, 2011.

[But where does that leave Hancock 2, which Berg is also attached to direct? See bottom of the post.]

Variety is reporting that Berg directing Battleship is part of a two-picture deal with Universal, the second film being an Afghan war drama called Lone Survivor. As we previously reported, Whiteout writers Erich and Jon Hoeber have penned the script for the movie. Stuber Pictures (Scott Stuber), Hasbro’s Brian Goldner and Bennett Schneir, Berg himself and his Film 44 partner, Sarah Aubrey, will all produce the pic.

Well the 2009 summer movie season is over for Hasbro and it has been financially successful. Transformers 2 has milked the entire world economy of over $800 million dollars, while G.I. Joe managed to drain the globe of $100 million this past weekend.  So what does that mean for Hasbro their future releases?

Well Steve “Frosty” Weintraub over at Collider managed to catch Brian Goldner, President and C.E.O of Hasbro, before a special screening of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and got some interesting answers about a few upcoming projects: Stretch Armstrong, Candy Land, Battleship and Monopoly.

Remember the good old days when Hollywood just remade everything, adapted video games or extended a series beyond it’s rightful lifetime with unnecessary sequels? Oh yes, that was a simpler time…

It appears that wasn’t enough for them and they’ve gone a step further than just those three types of usually bad paths by making movies out of board games. No, that’s not some industry specific term for a new type of sequel or remake. That’s right, I’m referring to those family-friendly pastimes which usually have dice and plastic pieces you move around on a flat board when you’ve got nothing else to do…